“The quickest route to reinvention in a new land is through fashion.
Clothes are a part of hip’s language,
signaling autonomy, desire, ethniticity and sexual come-on.
Like the blackface mask, they allow wearers to explore who they want to be,
to straddle identities.” (Leland 46)
Lady Gaga Before Fame
i566.photobucket.com/.../Ladygaganormaal.jpg
Lady Gaga Gets Paid and Celebrated for Reinventing Herself
http://www.bigtop40.com/photos/top-20-lady-gaga-crazy-outfits/12/#content
“Like hip, ads celebrated the aura around the product, not the thing itself.
In the logic of advertising,
what matters is not the essence of the thing,
but the perception of it.
Advertising reinvented things in the same way that Americans
reinvented themselves….
The explosion in hype met a quenchless hunger for the new—the perfect appetite
for a country that erased the past.” (Leland 55)
“Timmi Hillnigger” commercial uncut from the movie, “Bamboozled.”
As Alan Watts wrote when hipsters were finding zen in 1958,
the alternative was to detach,
“to find the significance of life in
subjective experience
rather than
objective achievement.” (Leland 53)
Photo By Ryan Scott Le Baron 2011
"This impetus—repeated by
bohemians, beboppers, action painters, hippies, punks, hip-hoppers, etc.—
has bee remarkably resilient over American history.
Though we often think of these as discrete responses to the mainstream,
they are really an ongoing part of what makes
They are not footnotes; they belong to the story.
By our rebellions are we sometimes best known.” (Leland 53,54) http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Hip-History-Mr-John-Leland/?isbn=9780060528188
Mumford and Sons
Sigh No More 2011
“After the Storm” with lyrics
“The questions of identity, individuality and citizenship that the major writers raised have remained the relevant puzzles of America
To be a sentient American is to tackle these same questions;
to be a hip one is to tackle them with style.” (Leland 55)
Let’s talk about the surface, layers, and core of identity.
Can identity be ambivalent or is it absolute?
Is “you are who you are” the bottom line?
Go ahead and try to change yourself.
Go ahead. I dare you!
Race, it’s on the surface yet if a white person seems to “acting” black or vice versa,
there is potential to be celebrated and/or perceived as a poser.
An online article posted by an African American website titled,
“Acting White is the New Black,”
begins with a quote, two debatable question, and ends with countless reader’s comments…
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is acting white? Or, better yet, what is acting black?
Some of the reader’s respond with these honest comments:
· Boondock Saint 2/21/11, 12:21:PM
I think this article is off the mark. Black people can and do speak standard English. The problem is that those of us who carry on like living stereotypes get the majority of the world’s attention. There are plenty of everyday black men and women who carry themselves with dignity and pride.
Unfortunately,
as far as the world’s concerned,
these folks tend to be covered with invisible ink.
· derek.d 2/21/11, 04:48:PM
*shakes pointy spear at Boondock Saint and MochaDreams*
Go on now! Git! Git from ’round here speaking that sense and being all logical and what not!
And right after “Black Thanksgiving” (aka All-Star weekend) too. No respect!
You done gone and ruined a damn near perfect race-bait article with your crystal clear logic. Don’t nobody round here wanna be hearing you sounding all eloquent and sh*t.
We’s just about to start debatin’ whether Coco’s butt cheeks is real or implants for the 3,456,231st time!
Git now! Fo Bossip cut yo’s foots off! Go on, git!
*shake, shake*
· WithAllHonesty 2/21/11, 12:29:PM
Speaking proper English isn’t acting white. But the voice and the tone you use to speak the language could be considered white.
I’ve seen many African Americans both men and women talk like “valley girls” “surfer boys” and “geeks.” I’ve seen Black men talk in a higher pitch to make the white people around them feel more comfortable. You can talk proper and still keep your OWN voice.
President Obama does it, Michelle Obama does it, Collin Powell does it, MLK did it…the list goes on and on.
· Mikki 2/21/11, 12:38:PM
Here we go again trying to figure out who we are and who we are not. Once black people understand the power of their unity we will be unstoppable. After all who discovered the word hater is it a black word I’ve heard Asian,Arabic,whites use it. We are the trend setters and instead of foucsung on who is who those of us that have achieved higher education should be volunteering in the so called “hood” helping others that are less fortunate and didn’t have the luxury of knowing the difference and how far communication can take you. It’s not talking white or black it’s communicating where the other person understand what you are saying. So instead of focusing on if we talk white or black if we eat chicken or rice each one of us have a duty to go back and help/teach one another!
· is your brain on? 2/21/11, 12:42:PM
Be yourself. Fu!k ‘em.
Identity is ultimately determined by the individual.
Perspective may be what drives an individual's actions
but the good or bad consequences that come with embracing the creation of one’s own identity
is
a risk
either most are willing to take
a risk
either most are willing to take
or may never take into consideration.
That is Hip.
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